Chickens won't stop squawking loudly for no apparent reason

[Larrycauna]

Hi all. I am extremely perplexed about some of my chickens. Two of them (a silkie and a BO) keep patrolling the yard and squawking loudly. I put them back into the coop and they get even louder. I am a city owner and I am starting to get seriously worried about my neighbors getting upset. I've tried calming them down with treats, petting, etc but nothing. Any idea whats up or how to stop it? They are about 5 months old (and none are laying yet)

I have 5 Amercauna hens. One has been laying for several weeks. The others are now around 18-20 weeks and their combs are turning crimson red. They are sqawking like crazy lately. From the way the older hen acted I'm thinking egg production should be coming anytime. The older one seemed to quit getting so excited after a couple weeks. They started squawking around 5th this morning off and on. I checked and the older hen was laying. At around an hour and a half all is quiet again. As for your neighbors, If they don't complain don't worry, or share some of your eggs with them.....who doesn't like fresh eggs.

 

[JerryR708]

One hen will lay an egg and start squawkin, which then starts squawk pandemonium with all the other birds. When the squawk just starts to die down, another hen will just start to lay and it repeats. If you have enough hens, the egg squawk can go on all through the day.

 

[Larrycauna]

I have 5 Amercauna hens. One has been laying for several weeks. The others are now around 18-20 weeks and their combs are turning crimson red. They are sqawking like crazy lately. From the way the older hen acted I'm thinking egg production should be coming anytime. The older one seemed to quit getting so excited after a couple weeks. They started squawking around 5th this morning off and on. I checked and the older hen was laying. At around an hour and a half all is quiet again. As for your neighbors, If they don't complain don't worry, or share some of your eggs with them.....who doesn't like fresh eggs.

 

[Larrycauna]

Mystery of the extra sqauwking solved. One of the new hens laid her first egg. Got two out of five laying now.

 

[ShereenUSA]

Yes, but she won't like it much. You, neither, perhaps... There's a recipe for Noisy Chicken & Dumplings somewhere around here.

Haahaa. That's so funny, cleverly cute funny, not serious funny.

 

[ShereenUSA]

I too am living residential with chickens and fought very hard to change the bylaws to have and keep them in our area. And now I too have these loud chickens who started out quiet for a while and have now become the loudest things ever! I am worried that my good natured neighbours willtire of the noise. Any suggestions for keeping them a little more hushed?

 

[ShereenUSA]

I literally have told my chickens to pipe it down, other times I've said "what, what"? They still squawk, but they don't seem to do it as much and don't seem as loud now.

 

[Eggshape]

Our hens squawk in the morning and in the day sometimes especially if they’re hungry. 6am every morning. It’s different then the egg laying song. Its a more needy sound. Growling that just lingers and gets louder and louder. We have to get up, give them a few grains and show face and they quiet down for an hour or two.

 

[sinnedekip]

Is there a way to get them to quiet down? I mean, it's LOUD! And I'm really worried about upsetting my whole neighborhood

I'm not totally legal either...you can have 4 chickens but the coop has to be 100 ft from another house. Our coop is probably more like 50 ft. This squawking has gone on for hours...how long does it usually last?

 

[ElizaMay]

Unfortunately it will vary - they're not usually on a 24 hour clock. Sometimes it will be earlier, sometimes later, and some will skip a day or two.

Mine lay in the morning ( my orps) and in the afternoon (my comets).